Have you ever dreamt of making delicious bread from scratch, but don’t think you’re capable of making a bakery-worthy loaf?

Well have we got the recipe for you. This recipe comes from the baker of Sullivan Street Bakery in Manhattan, Jim Lahey, and it’s revolutionary. This no-fail recipe makes an excellent loaf of bread, and truly, you can’t mess it up. If you can measure, stir, and put things in the oven, you can make this bread. No technical equipment necessary, and you’ll be amazed at the results! Here’s the recipe, but let’s walk through the process.

The evening before you want to bake your bread

Stir together 4 simple ingredients in a large bowl: flour, water, yeast, and salt. That’s it! You just stir them together to form a loose dough, and then allow the mixture to sit, covered, overnight (around 12 hours). You can play with the flour content of the dough, using a mixture of white and wholewheat flour, or even using gluten-free flour (see the notes on the bottom of this page). However, if you want the sourdough, bakery look, choose all-purpose white flour.

In the morning

Pour your dough onto a floured surface, and fold it onto itself a couple of times. Then allow it to sit for about 15 minutes, before shaping it into a ball. Let rise, covered on the counter, for another 2 hours.

Baking

Preheat a dutch oven (lid on) for about 30 minutes at 450 degrees farenheit, then, removing carefully, pop in your prepared dough. Allow to bake for 30 minutes with the lid on, and 15-20 minutes with the lid off, to form a delicious golden crust. Allow to cool, and ENJOY! The soft, sourdough-like interior has great texture, chew, and mild flavour, and the golden crust is perfectly crisp. Excellent bread for dunking in soup, slathering in peanut butter and jam, or serving with a fine cheese.

That sounds pretty easy, right? It is, and you’ll be in love with the results. Of course, there are a few more details you can follow, and a few recipe variances out there, using differing amounts of yeast, water, or flour, but that’s the gist of it. For additional tips, the Kitchn and Pinch of Yum offer a lot of great advice on no-knead bread! Check out this video from the New York Times at the original Sullivan Street Bakery for a first-hand look! #TreatYoSelf to perfect, picturesque, homemade bread. 
 

Kelowna born and raised, Keddy Pavlik of TheTreatLife has been passionate about the local food scene basically since birth. If she's not in the kitchen, you can probably find her at the farmer's market or taking pictures of food. Photo Credit: Jordana Dickson.